The technical efficiency of public and private ownership in the rail industry - The case of Swiss private railways

The Swiss rail industry is examined, and split between private and public ownership on the basis of a 30 per cent private share holding. Data Envelopment Analysis is used to estimate technical efficiency. Scale effects were found to be considerable, with most railways exhibiting increasing returns. Private railways were found to have a significantly higher level of technical, managerial, and organisational efficiency, although organisational efficiency differences were less pronounced due to some variation in the results.